Laura's Story

My journey with Overgate began when I was 12 and a family member was cared for by the Hospice. Soon after my mum, Julie, began working at the Hospice as a Nursing Auxiliary. I spent my teenage years hearing many stories of the care provided at Overgate and the difference this made to the families being cared for. I started volunteering at fundraising event and Overgate became part of my family life. My mum instilled in me her passion to ensure everyone has the best care possible in their final days.

I became a registered volunteer when I was 19 whilst I was studying at Huddersfield University, regularly helping out with admin in the fundraising office. When a job in the Fundraising Team became available just after my graduation, I jumped at the chance to be part of the wonderful team at Overgate.

I worked in various fundraising roles, before being appointed Fundraising & Retail Manager in 2011. Since then I have seen many changes in our Fundraising & Retail Teams including opening 6 new charity shops and a donation centre, introducing new fundraising events and introducing a Marketing & Communications Team to the Hospice. I am now very proud to be the Director of Income Generation with overall responsibility to ensure we raise enough money to keep our wonderful services going.

I think as a longstanding and well-known charity in Calderdale, people believe that the Hospice has lots of money and that the Hospice will always be here. This simply isn’t true. Each year the Hospice relies on you, our incredible community, to raise the money we need to keep caring. If this didn’t happen, the services we provide would no longer be available to local people of Calderdale. This is our Hospice and without us all supporting it, it won’t be here for families in the future.

So many people I speak to often believe that the Hospice is about death and dying but the focus at Overgate is on life and living, making the most of every precious minute. Working here has made me realise that life can change in a moment and we need cherish every minute we have with our loved ones.